1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle safety apparatus, and is particularly directed to a vehicle safety apparatus which includes an adaptor for securing an air bag inflator to a housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to inflate an air bag to restrain a vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision. A typical air bag assembly includes an air bag folded and stored in a housing along with an inflator. The inflator has an elongate cylindrical shape. Opposite ends of the inflator are secured to opposite side walls of the housing. In the event of a vehicle collision, the inflator is actuated to direct inflation fluid into the air bag. The air bag inflates from the folded and stored condition to an unfolded and inflated condition to restrain the vehicle occupant.
It may sometimes be necessary or desirable to use, in connection with an existing housing, an inflator which is structurally different than the inflator the housing was designed to store. The structurally different inflator may be shorter or smaller in diameter or otherwise physically different than the inflator the housing was designed to store. In such a circumstance, the structurally different inflator might not easily be secured to the walls of the housing.